Improvement in toy guns



3 Sheetsf-Sheet; B. De LUNE.

U Toy-Guns. No. 159,502

Patented Feb. 9, 1875.

I Zff'hewey.

fwd-

-Sheet 2.

3 Sheets- Patented Feb. 9v. 1875.

...If-zoen Zur/7.

B. De LONG.. Toy-Gun.

v 3Sheets-Sheet3. B. DeLUNG.

Toy-Guns. 40,159,502 Patented Feb.9,1875.

THE GRAPHIC CG, PHDTO'UEHBBK 4I PARK PLACE. W T.

i' NITED BALTIS DE LONG, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN TOY GUNS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 159,502, dated February9, 1875; application tiled February 5, 1874.

To all 'whom it may concern: f

Be it known that I, BALTrs DE LONG, of the city of Washington, Districtof Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in,u ToyGuns, of which the following is a specification:

The object of my invention is to produce a gun that may be cheaplymanufactured, one

' that will throw the ordinaryr leaden ball with considerable force andgreat accuracy, and that may not only be used as a toy for children,butmaybe a source ot' amusement to those older-in parlor target-shooting.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side view of the gun withthe central portion broken away, showing a guide, a front and rearsight, and a tripping device in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a side view ofthe central portion of the stock and guide, showing their position, aball or missile holder, carrier, and elastic propeller or propellers.Fig. 3 is a plan of so much ofthe gun as is necessary to show the frontand rear portions of the guide, the two sights, ball-holder, andball-carrier. Fig. 4 is an end view of the ball-holder and ballcarrierwith the guide-rod in section. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the carrier withthe holder somewhat modified, and Fig. 6 an end view thereof with theguide in section. Fig. 7 is a vertical longitudinal central sectionthrough so much of the gun as is necessary to show another mode ofsecuring the guide; also, an automatic whistle, in combination with aball holder and carrier. Fig. 8 is a plan of the central portion of thegun, the guide being broken away to show the manner in which the springsmay be secured to the stock; and Fig. 9 is a side view of the gun,having the guide and stock constructed of one and the same piece. Fig.l0.is an end view oa rammer or loader; Fig. 11, a side view thereof.Fig. 12 is a top View of the carrier with a removable holder securedthereto; Fig. 13, a side view thereof. Fig. 14 is a side view of thelower portion of a ball-carrier, showing the manner in which the bracketmay be constructed for securing the rubber when the carrier is made ofmetal. Fig. 15 is a side view of the upper portion of the carrier with atube having a loaded plug therein.

Upon brackets or projections a on the stock Ais secured a guide, B, inany Well-known way, (three of which are shown but that preferred by lneis represented in Fig. 7 in which case the ends of the guide entermortises in the projections a, which renders it capable ot' beingreadily removed or replaced by simply springing it into orout of place.A missilecarrier, B is made to embrace the guide, and may pass entirelyaround it, as shown. Any manner of securing it to the guide so as toprevent its turning thereon or escaping therefrom when the gun isdischarged will answer. The upper side of the carrier in this instanceis made somewhat longer than theother sides, and is strengthened at itsrear end, when made of wood, by-two strips, one on the upper and theother on the under side thereof, with the grain of the wood at rightangles thereto, and

through this portion a hole is made and then lined with metal to preventwear. The lining may consist ot'an ordinary metal eyelet pressedtherein, as shown.

One mode ot' securing the ball or missile is shown on the upper side ofthe carrier, consisting of a socket, b, for receiving the ball, and aspring, c, secured to a bracket, 1, to hold it and prevent its droppingout in whatever position the gun may be held. This bracket may be madeon the principle ofthe old-style annular-disk whistle, (see Fig. 7,)with a hole in its front wall and another directly opposite it in therear wall, so that in its movement, the air rushing through theopenings, a sound will be heard similar to that produced by a rifle-ballpassing rapidly through the air. In this mode of forming the holder itis convenient to make the bracket 1 into a whistle, but not-necessary.vas the whistle may be placed at the rear end of the ball-carrier, ontop, or y either side; neither is it necessary to form the socket forthe ball in the upper portion of the carrier, and have a spring attachedthereto to prevent the ball dropping out when the gun is turned muzzledownward, as will be seen by another mode of constructing the holder inFigs. 5 and 6, in which case a tube is shown having one end scallopedand the points bent inward suiiiciently'to form a slight pressure uponthe ball. In this case the tube is secured to a bracket, 2, by a pin,c', passing through it and the bracket, the bracket being rigidlysecured to the upper portion of the' ball-carrier.

Another mode of securing the holder is shown in Figs. 12, and 13, inwhich case the holder is rendered capable of being readily removed orreplaced by making the lower portion of the bracket, to which the tubeor socket is secured, dovetailed, or securing thereto a dovet-ailedpiece, 5, and fitting it to a corresponding groove in the upper portionof the carrier. By this mode the holder may be changed to suit larger orsmaller balls, as desired, thus changing the caliber of the gun bysimply changing the holder.

The brackets 3 and 4 upon the under side of the ball-carrier, and thestrip d, secured thereto, form an opening, through which, in thisinstance, a cord, e, passes, to the ends of which rubber bands E aresecured, having their other ends similarly secured to the ends of acord, c', passing through or let into an opening, f, through the stockabout midway between the breech and muzzle.` To prevent the cord towhich the rubbers are attached, and which passes through the stock, fromescaping, a metal strip, ff, may be placed over the opening, and securedby screws, or tted to a groove. Instead of the rubbers being secured tothe cords e e', an endless band of rubber might be secured to thecarrier by inserting the band before gluing or securing the strip d..When the carrier is made of metal, a ring open on its under side may besecured to the under side ot' the carrier and braced, as shown in Fig.14.

A spring, g, Fig. 7, made of wire, and let into the under side of thestock, so as to be flush therewith, is held in place by a staple, g',embracing it, passing up into or through the stock and clinched. rIhisspring passes through a loop on the lower end of a wire, h, far enoughto allow the trigger to catch thereon, and holds the wire h in itsproper place to catch and hold the carrier. (In case the stock is madeof metal, as shown in Fig. 9, the spring g may be held in place byallowing the eX- tended forward end ofthe trigger-guard to embrace it.)The wires g and h constitute a tripping device for discharging the gun,and is operated by pulling the trigger in the ordinary manner.

The gun is furnished with adjustable front and rear sights, I and J, theone adjustable vertically and the other horizontally, so that the sightof the gun may be regulated to bring the throw ot' the missile to anydegree of accuracy required, except those inaccuracies which may beoccasioned by the irregularity iu weight or dissimilarity in structureof the missiles thrown. The rear sight, I, is

shown in Fig. l as being turned at a right angle to its proper position.p

The holder may be of sufficient capacity to contain one or more balls,as shown in Fig. 5. A rammer or loader, K, has a groove, k, to

t the guide and ianges l, and a'ords a hold for the thumb and lingers inthe act of forcing the carrier back to the breech.

For a popgun, a loaded plug, M, is made to fit the holder, which, inthis instance, consists of a plain tube, (see Fig. 15,) and as thecarrier, and consequently the tube and plug connected therewith, isdriven rapidly for-v ward as far as the spring will admit, the instantreaction of the spring separating the tube and plug, the desired sound.is produced.

It will be observed that the main portion of the gun-that is, the guideand stock-m ay be made of a single piece of metal by bending it in theform shown in Fig. 9.

I have shown a square rod for a guide; but it is evident that any other,either angular or annular in cross-section, would answer as Well.

Although rubber bands are shown as the power of propulsion, I do notconfine myself to those, as it is very evident that coiled-wire springor the cross-bow would do.

In this gun the ball is held snugly in the holder, and the carrier towhich the holder is secured or forms a part being accurately guidedthroughout its movement, the ball, when leaving it, must necessarilypass on in the same plane as the line of movement of the carrier, andhence its throw is more accurate than that of spring-guns heretoforeconstructed, in which a barrel or groove is used as a guide for theball.

When the gun is discharged, the instant the carrier has gained itsmomentum, the ball leaves the holder without concussion, and thevelocity of the carrier is overcome through its medium of propulsion.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. In a toy gun, the combination of the sliding carrier and the ball ormissile holder, removable therefrom, substantially as described.

2. In a toy gun provided with a guide and carrier sliding thereon, awhistle attached to or forming a part of said carrier, for the purposeset forth.

3. The combination, in a toy gun, of a missile-carrier, holder, andguide, the carrier einbracing the guide, and having the holder securedto said carrier, substantially as described.

4. rlhe combination, in a toy gun, of a guide and missilecarrier, thecarrier embracing and sliding upon the guide, when propelled by springpower arranged to limit the forward movement of the carrier,substantially as described.

5. In combination with a toy gun, the removable guide B, substantiallyas described.

6. In a toy gun, the grooved rammer K, substantially as described.

BAL'IIS DE LONG.

Witnesses:

D. DAVIDSON, B. H. MORSE.

